Fire killed Osage?

[turtle]

 Anyone ever tried osage that was killed by fire? My grandma's house burned down in april of this year and there is a hedgerow about 20 yards from the house,and ten or twelve osage trees got scorched pretty good and now show no signs of life. I am going to cut them when i get time and just wondered if it would still make bows or should i just chunk it into firewood.

[tattoo dave]

Sorry to hear about grandmas Steve. I know first hand what that's like. Don't know about the wood, but i guess there's only one way to find out.

Tattoo Dave

[PatM]

Al Herrin wrote an article that specifically mentioned burning the tree before even cutting it down. A small controlled fire was built around the base of the tree and tended for an unspecified length of time.
 Many writers have mentioned that the Indians would highly regard a tree killed by fire as prime bow material and the method described by Herrin seems to be their way of making it happen rather than chancing on a fire killed tree.
 You shouldn't have a problem unless the wood is deeply charred.

[osage outlaw]

I would go for it.  We use heat to bend osage and heat to toast the belly of the limbs.  Scrape away the scorched wood and give it a go.

[turtle]

Thanks for the reply's. I guess i will try to save all thats not scorched too deep and see how it works out. Some are charred to 8 to 10 feet above the ground and some are only charred for 2 to 3 feet. Won't  know how deep untill i get to cutting. Just didnt know if getting live wood that hot  would damage it beyond being usable. The fire happened just as our trees were starting to bud out. I was actually surprised that none of the damaged trees put out any leaves.

[Marc St Louis]

Al Herrin wrote an article that specifically mentioned burning the tree before even cutting it down. A small controlled fire was built around the base of the tree and tended for an unspecified length of time.
 Many writers have mentioned that the Indians would highly regard a tree killed by fire as prime bow material and the method described by Herrin seems to be their way of making it happen rather than chancing on a fire killed tree.
 You shouldn't have a problem unless the wood is deeply charred.

I think Al was talking about a method of cutting down a tree using a fire

[PatM]

 That may have been a secondary reason but he was very specific about the fire changing the wood properties in a positive way.
 Keep in mind that steel axes would have long since been introduced so the char and chop method wouldn't have been really necessary for a bow stave sized tree.

[Carson (CMB)]

I am sorry to hear about your grandmothers home.   I am curious to learn what you find in the really chared ones.